Franklin miller



no Model.)

r F. MILLER.

GRAVE VAULT.

No. 278,354. I Patented May 29,1883.

INV ENTD a %mxlfin HIS ATTY WITNESSES:

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suitable size and shape.

UNITED STATES FRANKLIN MILLER, OF MU NOIE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SHIOK, OF SAME PLACE.

GRAVE-VAU LT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 278,354, dated May 29, I883.

Application filed J auuary 29, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Muncie, in the county of Delaware and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Grave-Vault, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in grave-vaults; and the object of my improvements is to construct a cheap, simple, and durable grave-vault. I attain this object by the mechanism illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2 is across-section of the same, showing the vault closed.

Similarletters refer to similar parts through out the several views.

My invention consists of the lid A and bottom B. In these parts a coffin is secured airtight and burglar-proof, locking itself from the inside when closed together.

The body B is constructed of metal and of a A strip, (1, which is secured to the upper edge of the body, forms a gutter, d, around the whole edge, as shown in each figure. the inside ofthe body, nearthe bottom, by bolts 0. The said bars are provided at their upper ends with slots at, all as shown. The said bars are connected together by a cross-bar, b, which is firmly bolted to the bars a, as shown. The bolts 0 are not to be put in place until the bars a b are raised up to be locked, the said bars being turned down, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, at all-times until the vault is ready to be locked. The upper part or lid, A, is provided with outside snaps or hooks, a, to form a temporary fastening or lock for convenience in handling or shipping the vault, the said hooks snapping down over the grooved, as shown in Fig. 2.

The lock-bars a are secured to' The lid A is constructed about the same size of the body, being wholly of metal. 011 the inside and atproper places are bolted the hooks i, so that when the bars a are up, as shown,

the hooks will catch in the slots a, forming a This makes the vault several hundred pounds heavier and supplies a weight which has heretofore been made up by the metal used in constructing vaults. The groove d is then filled with sealing substance, and the coffin is then placed down .in the vault, resting on the bars 1). (Shown by dotted lines in Fig 2.) The lid A is then carefully let down so'that the lower edge of the lid will flt in the groove, and so that the books will all snap in the slots a, thus completing the locking andsealing of the vault, which cannot be unlocked or removed from the grave.

Having thus described my invention, I claim the following, and desire to secure the same by Letters Patent:

In a grave-vault, the bars a, being pivoted near the bottom of theinside of the body B by a bolt, 0', the said bars having cross bars I), and having slotso in their upper ends to engage with the hooksi on the inside of the lid A, allarranged as and for the purioose set forth.

FRANK LIN MILLER.

Witnesses:

LOUISA A. ADAMSON, A. G. ADAMSON. 

